Officials said Tribhuvan International would reopen at 10 a.m. local time Saturday as preparations to move the plane continue.

"We do not know now if it will take longer than then to move the plane," Purna Chudal, manager of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, told CNN.

More then 160 flights have been canceled since Wednesday's incident, leaving more than 24,000 passengers stranded as officials struggle to remove the immobile Airbus A330 off the runway, Chudal said.

The timing of the incident is problematic for Nepal's tourism industry, which is gearing up for the 2015 climbing season. Foreigners heading to Mount Everest and other nearby peaks in the Himalayan Mountains transit through the airport.

The authority initially said it would reopen the airport at 10 a.m. Friday, later revising that to 5 p.m., but workers were unable to remove the aircraft by that time.

They were able to lift the plane's nose -- originally pitched down -- and change its tires.

Turkish Airlines passengers were forced to evacuate using emergency slides after the plane they were on skidded and landed nose down on a runway in Nepal.

The main challenge now is to push the grass-grounded plane back onto the runway.

Officials say the area under the plane needs to be firmed up -- a process that involves digging into the ground and filling it with gravel -- before push back can commence.

No aircraft removal equipment

The Turkish Airways incident didn't result in any major injuries but the plane has remained aground as Nepal doesn't have the necessary equipment to move it.

Cargo planes were unable to fly in heavy-duty machinery because there was nowhere to land.